Established in 1982, The Professional Investigating and Consulting Agency (PICA) is now one of the largest companies in the world dedicated to corporate investigations and loss prevention consulting. With the diverse and ever-changing demands of the commercial world, PICA prides itself on its resources and flexibility to respond quickly to clients' needs. Last year it carried out more than 4,400 investigations, many on behalf of Fortune 500 companies or their legal counsel.

In the world of corporate investigations and consulting, information - and specifically reliable information - is of paramount importance. The quality of information attained impacts directly on the quality of advice that can be ultimately given, and when best advice can save a business millions of pounds, the source of information becomes even more critical.

The company therefore has wide-ranging needs for Business and Credit Information both to be supplied to clients and to help identify potential partners. For a high profile global organisation such as PICA, speed and reach of information are essential.

When PICA was looking for an effective solution it decided upon using on-line business information, one of the fastest growing sectors within the services industry. Specifically it contacted SkyMinder, a leading information provider in Europe.

SkyMinder provides extensive online access to global business information on 50 million public and private companies in 230 countries worldwide, with an exclusive on-line content on more than 30 million European companies.

The service provides a broad range of easily accessible information including company profiles, financial data, credit ratings, industry breakdowns, market trends, investment research, news and statistical information. All data is aggregated in a ready to use dossier-formatted report from a range of highly regarded sources such as Graydon UK, Dun and Bradstreet Worldwide, Thomson Financial and KSV, in addition to local information providers.

As Vaughn Volpi, President of the PICA Corporation comments: "We find SkyMinder's Business Information Services extremely helpful and responsive," he says. "We primarily use their Consultancy service to provide a detailed profile of potential business partners. These may be based in countries as varied as Rwanda, Malaysia and Italy and I am always confident that SkyMinder has the reach and contacts to track down business information even in the most obscure location."

Vaughn is particularly pleased with the high level, personalised service that SkyMinder provides. "This means that SkyMinder is always my first port of call and plays a key role in the my initial research. Skyminder works quickly and efficiently to gather a large amount of in-depth information which is tailor-made to my specific needs. In my mind there is no comparison to SkyMinder in terms of range and quality of information."

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